Is routine audiometric evaluation necessary in gynaecologic tumour patients undergoing chemotherapy?

Background: Our objective was to assess the auditory function of gynaecological tumour patients who had received cytotoxic agents and to determine their associated risk of ototoxicity.

Patients And Methods: 87 patients who had undergone chemotherapy for gynaecological malignancies were investigated. Of these patients, 79% had breast cancer, and 14% ovarian cancer.

Effect of platinum-containing chemotherapy on olfactory, gustatory, and hearing function in ovarian cancer patients.

Purpose: Most patients with epithelial ovarian cancer have a poor overall prognosis. Therefore, one of the main therapeutic aims after cytoreductive surgery for these patients is to identify, delay and relieve chemotherapy-induced side effects and optimise the quality of life, especially after first-line therapy.

Methods: Twelve ovarian cancer patients undergoing carboplatinum-containing chemotherapy were assessed using validated tests for olfactory, gustatory, and hearing functions before, during, immediately after, and 3 months after chemotherapy.

Gustatory and olfactory function in breast cancer patients.

Purpose: Loss of appetite is a common complaint in cancer patients. There is still no overall conclusion whether this symptom might be caused by distorted taste/smell function or by tumor byproducts. This knowledge would be important for adequate patient counseling as well as symptom relief.

Qualitative and quantitative assessment of taste and smell changes in patients undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer or gynecologic malignancies.

Purpose: Smell and taste changes during chemotherapy are significant complaints of cancer patients. Loss of olfactory/gustatory function can lead to malnutrition, weight loss, and possibly a prolonged morbidity of chemotherapy-induced adverse effects, decreased quality of life, poor compliance, and even decreased therapy response. This prospective study comprehensively investigated, to our knowledge for the first time, smell and taste changes in a cohort of 87 patients undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer or gynecologic malignancies.